ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 12, 1997 TAG: 9701140019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Roanoke College's shortest men's basketball trip in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference this season may go in the books as its roughest.
The Maroons scratched, clawed and gnawed their way to a 91-77 victory over Washington and Lee on Saturday at the Warner Center. It was a game that featured plenty of clawing and jawing on both sides. How much? Well, Roanoke, for example, attempted 42 free throws.
``It was a typical Roanoke-W&L game,'' said Page Moir, the Maroons' coach.
Roanoke used a wicked half-court press in the second half to pull away in the wild and, at times, bizarre game. The Maroons converted nine steals in the Generals' backcourt into 18 points.
Pregame speculation said Roanoke (7-1 overall, 3-0 ODAC), ranked No.5 in NCAA Division III before its loss Wednesday at Washington (Mo.), would rout the Generals (2-9, 1-4). Washington and Lee, however, stayed close, trailing 80-73 with 1:36 left.
No one could have predicted before the game that the Generals would get the effort they did from freshman Rich Peterson. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound center from Trumbull, Conn., was a powerhouse in the pivot, scoring a career-high 28 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
``Our focus tonight was: We've got a kid shooting 57 percent from the field who's had 80 shots on the season,'' said Kevin Moore, W&L's coach. ``That's only eight a game.
``We need to get him the ball at least 14 times a game, because we know if he gets the ball, he scores or gets fouled.''
Jason Bishop used a calm, silent aggression to score a season-high 28 points and collect six of Roanoke's 13 steals.
The first half was a wacky exposition that was a tribute to the heated 87-game rivalry.
The high points included Peterson scoring 20 points (topping his previous career high of 19) in the first 20 minutes and Bishop responding with 17 for Roanoke.
The low points had to be the 20 fouls that were called, including an amazing two double-technical fouls called within 70 seconds of each other. Both technicals sprang from the team's post men scrambling for loose balls and attempting to scramble each other's faces.
Fortunately, the play was of a better quality than the other shenanigans. The Maroons had their biggest lead of the first half at the 4:56 mark, 35-25, but Peterson got the Generals back in it, scoring his team's next 10 points.
Bishop pushed the Roanoke lead back up to seven, 42-35, by hitting one of two free throws with 41.3 seconds left. The half ended in typically wild fashion when W&L freshman guard Walt Plyler pivoted 720 degrees and heaved a shot to the basket without looking. It banked in at the buzzer.
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB